Looking for contract extension, Braley forced to sit out annual ballgame

CEDAR RAPIDS - U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, who's playing for a six-year contract extension, will sit out the annual congressional baseball game later this week.

'I'm on the DL,” the former high school baseball player joked, referring to the 'disabled list.”

Braley, who faces Republican State Sen. Joni Ernst for a six-year term in the Senate, is nursing a shoulder injury and will miss the annual Democrats-versus-Republican contest for bragging rights June 25.

Braley, a four-term House member, is recovering from a separated shoulder suffered in a fall earlier this year. He said he's undergoing therapy, 'but it's not healed yet enough for me to play.”

Democrats are hoping to extend their six-game winning streak that includes a 22-0 blowout last summer. Republicans lead the series 38-37-1.

Braley, whose 1968 Brooklyn, Iowa, Dodgers Little League team won a championship, hopes to return to the lineup next year.

'It's been a really fun part of serving in Congress,” he said. 'My friends who are playing this year are giving me a very hard time.”

The game has been a fixture on Braley's schedule. He has worn baseball jerseys from a variety teams including the Upper Iowa University Peacocks and the Anamosa High School Blue Raiders after he floated across their baseball field in a boat following a flood.

A Sandy Koufax fan as a child, Braley, whose current district includes the legendary Field of Dreams near Dyersville, attends Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles games when he can.

Proceeds from the game will go to the Washington Literacy Center, Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington and Washington Nationals Dream Foundation.

Braley can be seen batting in the 2010 game in this YouTube video.

The Ernst campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.